We
looked at how we could improve the Explain Everything Databases and then spent
some time creating a site using the New Google Site.Here’s a screenshot of one I did, and it didn’t take long at
all!

We’re
all gearing up for our Google exam next Friday.I can feel a bit of studying will need to be done before the test
(sometime in between report writing, perhaps).

Our
day ended with a lesson on how to green-screen for a movie (something I was
really keen to learn).Dorothy made it
seem so easy and do-able in the class, that I’m definitely will be giving it a
go soon.

Today was our last day with James (boo hoo)😢 . He's off to the UK next week - lucky him!! ✈ Safe travels, James. Have a fabulous time back in the old country. We'll miss that special accent of your!

We
have only one more week of getting together – and then our Fridays will be back
in the class with our gorgeous kids, and we wont have quite the same access to the wonderful learning we've had this term!

Sunday, 18 June 2017

As is normal for our Friday’s together, our day began with a
report from each person on what they have changed/improved/added to, both in
their classrooms and in their professional/personal engagements with all things
digital.It’s great to hear what people
have done, and it’s a challenge to ensure that I make the effort to implement
what I can, where I can.

Our morning was interrupted slightly with a trip to Point
England School to join with the school in congratulating Pat Sneddon on
becoming a Member of the NZ order of Merit(MNZM) for services to Education and Maori.It is wonderful when good people like Pat and
his wife, Joy, are honoured for the awesome work they do in the community.

We returned to the Maniakalani offices to continue our own
learning journey.

After learning about sites in the last session, today we got
the opportunity to critique each other’s classroom sites.Amongst all the seriousness of what worked
well and what didn’t, (gotta remember those rules that Dorothy gave us) there
was some great laughter.It’s good for
the soul!So we really shouldn’t miss
the opportunity to have a good chuckle.

What makes an effective site:

Visual

User Experience

Exciting

Engaging

Using space effectively

Keep it looking basic not busy

Following conventional layout rules eg white spaces

Commonality- Reading/Writing/Maths

Themed?

Logical

Interconnected pages

Engaging (resources)

Learning is easy to find

Main elements are obvious- landing page has important info

Consistency

Visibility

Through all the busyness of our days, it’s easy to forget
that there might be areas of our sites that do not fully meet the expectation
of a ‘good professional site’.So, to be
reminded about that in a safe space was really beneficial.

We looked at Multimodal Reading -and a database that’s being created by a
teacher at Point England School, Angela Moala.Dorothy also began talking about creating a database for the Explain
Everythings that we’re all making for our Junior students.She began creating one there and then (not
one to slack around, is our Dorothy!).Anyway – it’s going to be great!Why should we be spending hours each week creating an E.E. if someone else
in the country has already created a perfectly fine one!A great idea, for sure!

After lunch we were given time to ‘fix up’ our own sites –
thanks Dorothy!I’ve still got work to
do on mine, but it’ll have to wait until reports are finished.Perhaps it’ll be a holiday activity!!

Another great day with James and Dorothy.Thanks you two – you’re both amazing!

Saturday, 3 June 2017

Digital Immersion No. 5 2 June 2017

It’s
been another great day today. We had the
fabulous Fiona in to share about being cybersmart, and how this important
aspect of digital learning needs to be deliberately taught.Every curriculum area should be linked with
being cybersmart.

Next
came the exciting part – creating a site!I’ve done this before, but it was a bit rushed, and I really didn’t know
what I was doing.Today gave me the
opportunity to spend time planning, then creating a site.

We all
used a PM Reader – Magpie’s Baking Day to brainstorm ideas for a mini
unit.We used Padlet – which was really
easy, and a great way to work together to pool our ideas.

Once
we had our ideas, Dorothy took us step-by-step through the ‘How to’s’ of
creating a site.Yep – I did it (well it's still at work in progress!) – and
here’s proof!